March 2025 - Orienteering USA

March OUSA Member Spotlight: Ali Crocker

*Ali Crocker running at 2022 Masters Nationals*.

This is a transcript of an interview with Ali in March, 2025. It has been edited for clarity and length.

Cristina Luis: Ali, I would like to hear about your athletic background, from the beginning, and how that melds into orienteering.

Alison Crocker: From the very beginning? Okay.

As early as you want to go. It doesn’t have to be the very beginning.

Okay. I think at my earliest ages I was dragged along to running races with my parents. Totally loved doing all the kids’ races. So I was active from the beginning, and then probably the first serious sport I did was cross-country skiing, up through young juniors. I went to a ski academy for one year–where Alex Jospe currently coaches. I just went there for the winter trying to take skiing really seriously. But then I went to a boarding school where there was more snow than at my house so I could ski but still do academics. And it was there that I discovered two new sports. First, I discovered rowing, which I took seriously for quite a while during all of high school.

(more…)

US Youth Ski-Orienteering Team Wraps up an exciting week at EYSOC!

US Youth Ski-Orienteering Team: Coach Carl Fey, Euell Browne, Erik Fey, Liam Browne, and Mark
Fey.

The US Youth Ski Orienteering Team delivered record-breaking performances at the 2025 European Youth Ski Orienteering Championships, which serves as the de facto World Youth SkiO Championships.

Erik Fey led the team with historic results, placing 5th in the long, 6th in the sprint, 6th in the middle, and anchoring the US to 6th in the relay—marking the best-ever individual finish by a male non-European in a major international skiO event. [Ali Crocker has the best ever American result, with a 4th place in a 2011 World Cup race.] He narrowly missed 4th in the long by just four seconds, pushing to the limit in the final stretch. “I really wanted a top-three finish, but I’m proud of my performance and our growing US SkiO youth team,” Erik reflected.

*Erik Fey on his way to 5th place in the European Youth Ski-Orienteering Championships long distance race.*

Liam Browne (22nd), Euell Browne (24th), and Mark Fey (25th) also delivered strong results in the long distance race, with Euell edging Mark by five seconds.. The Browne brothers, competing in their first international skiO event, impressed many, showcasing the rising strength of Grizzly Orienteering Club in Montana and the US SkiO program.

Liam called the experience “amazing,” crediting Erik and Finnish champion Niklas Hirvilahti for inspiring his improvement. When reflecting back on the week of races Euell Brown said, “It was a great privilege to race for my country at European Youth Champs. My navigation got better with each race, and by the long event I felt much better making decisions on the go. I am very thankful
for encouragement of my team: Mark, Erik, Liam and Coach Carl!”

With Erik and Liam moving up to the junior category next year, the US Youth SkiO Team seeks new talent. Interested athletes and media inquiries can contact Coach Carl Fey at carlffey@nullgmail.com.

Level 1 Coaching clinic announced

Orienteering USA and Vanguard NJROTC will host a Level 1 Coaching Certification Clinic this summer.

Level 1 Coaching Certification Clinic

When: June 17-19, Ocala, FL
Who: Hosted by Suncoast Orienteering (SOAR)
Priority: JROTC & military coaches, open to all

Calling JROTC and military coaches!

Join us in Ocala, FL for a Level 1 Coaching Certification Clinic from June 17-19. Priority for JROTC and military, but open to all.

Course Highlights:

Team Training Plans: Workshop to plan for goal races for your next season
Training Sessions: Create and share specific exercises that you can use with your team
Development Opportunities: Explore Orienteering USA options beyond JROTC

Experienced instructors with JROTC, ROTC, or USMA backgrounds will lead. They are involved with OrienteeringUSA at the national level.

Sign up by April 13, 2025. Capacity is 24 students. Priority to local JROTC, then military-affiliated, then others. Reimbursement: Up to $200 for out-of-state travel funded by OUSA passion projects. Don’t forget to ask your schools to help out with financial support for this important certification!

The syllabus includes 30 hours of instruction.

Continuing Education Credits: Contact Tori (victoria.campbell@nullorienteeringusa.org) to see if this course might meet your state’s requirements.

Junior Nationals and Spring-O Event Recap

March 22-23, 2025

Host: North Texas Orienteering Association (NTOA)

Venue: Sid Richardson Scout Ranch, Bridgetport, TX

This event was a two-day Classic distance NRE, and also the Interscholastic and Intercollegiate Championships.

Results, Maps, and Photos

Saturday
- Results by course and by class
- Splits
- Livelox
Sunday
- Results by course and by class
- Splits
- Livelox
Combined results
Photos from Day 1 by Evalin Brautigam
Photos from Day 2 by Evalin Brautigam

YMP March Map of the Month

The Youth Mapping Program March Map of the Month is MetroWest YMCA Outdoor Center in Hopkinton, MA. This map was created in 2021 and is still being used extensively!

The YMCA’s summer camps introduce as many as 650 youth per day to orienteering. They also use the map for hiking, geocaching, and to teach basic map-reading skills. In addition to their own programming, MetroWest YMCA has partnered with local scout troops to utilize their orienteering course and with the New England Orienteering Club, who use the space for their large annual Intro to Orienteering event!

“It has certainly been a huge asset that greatly benefits our ability to serve the community and engage youth into outdoor education,” said Adventure and Outdoor Ed Director Tyler Reynolds.

Have you received a map from OUSA’s Youth Mapping Program? We want to hear how you’re using it! Let us know here.

2025 JWOC Team Selected

The JWOC Selection Committee is pleased to announce the team to represent the US at the 2025 Junior World Championships (JWOC), which will be held in Trentino, Italy, from 26 June to 4 July.

Men:

Ben Brady
Ben Conley
Ian Dunlap
Alex Eriksson
Mori Finlayson-Johnecheck
Ludvig Hagwall
1^st alternate, Ben Cooper
2^nd alternate, Lenni Kallela

Women:

Danny Buchholz
Anna Campbell
Anna Green
Greta Leonard
Paige Suhocki
Zariah Zosel
1^st alternate, Kendal O’Callaghan
2^nd alternate, Sophie Howes
3^rd alternate, Kate deBlonk

Congratulations to all the athletes! We wish them the best of luck in the European forests.

Peggy Dickison, National Team ESC Chair & Chair of WOC Review Panel
JWOC Selection Committee: Jon Torrance, Brenda Blacklock, Ethan Childs, Will Enger, Tyra Christopherson, and Julia Doubson

2025 WOC Team Selected

The WOC Review Panel is pleased to announce the team to represent the US at the 2025 World Orienteering Championships (WOC) in Kuopio, Finland, from 7 to 12 July. Regional champs in the Middle and Long races—for North Americans, last summer’s NAOC races—earn personal starts in those WOC races. Joseph Barrett thus earned a long start at this year’s WOC, and Ali Crocker earned both a middle and a long start.

2025 WOC Team

Men:

Joseph Barrett
Ricardo Schaniel
Anthony Riley
Thomas Laraia
1^st alternate, Greg Ahlswede
2^nd alternate, Anton Salmenkylä

Women:

Ali Crocker
Lily Addicott
Alison Campbell
Evalin Brautigam
1^st alternate, Bridget Hall
2^nd alternate, Siri Christopherson

Congratulations to all the athletes! We wish them the best of luck in the European forests.

Peggy Dickison, National Team ESC Chair & Chair of WOC Review Panel
WOC Review Panel: Glen Tryson, Jeff Saeger, Ioana Flemming, Peggy Dickison

Erik Fey Finishes 6th in the Sprint at the European Youth Ski-O Champs!

The US Boys Youth Ski-Orienteering Team followed up their strong result from yesterday’s relay with top finishes again today in the Sprint race at the European Youth Ski-Orienteering Championships in Posio, Finland. American Erik Fey, age 16, placed sixth which, to the best of our knowledge, is the first time a male athlete representing a country outside of Europe has placed in the top six in an individual race at a major international ski-orienteering competition.

When asked about the race Erik said, “I am very happy to place in the top six today which was my goal for these races, but goals and dreams do not always come true. I have been training hard working towards this step by step for a number of years. I felt good and skied really fast today, but perhaps I went a little too fast. Thus, I made a few small mistakes which I hope I can eliminate in the remaining races by keeping my heart rate a little bit lower.” The race was won by Marek Lesak of Czech Republic ahead of Veeti Vippola from Finland in second place and Joakhim Savinanein of Finland in 3^rd place.

Euell Browne, a strong skier from Grizzly Orienteering Club in Montana, also skied especially well today. He was the US’s second fastest skier coming in 22^nd place– a very impressive result, especially considering that this is only Euell’s second major international ski-orienteering race (yesterday was his first international ski-orienteering race). Euell was followed by older brother Liam Browne in 24^th place and Erik’s younger brother Mark Fey in 26^th place. These all represent solid performances for the US.

The races continue on Saturday with the medium distance race and end on Sunday, March 23^rd with the long race. You can follow the US Ski-Orienteering Team’s results at: Liveservices – Lapin Lumirastit & ESOC, JWSOC, EYSOC 2025. Enquires from the press or messages of good luck to the US Ski-O Team can be sent to: carlffey@nullgmail.com

Historic 6th Place in European Youth Ski-O Champs for US Boys!

The US Boys Youth Ski-Orienteering Team finished 6^th today in the relay at the European Youth Ski-Orienteering Championships. This is the best relay result for the US ever at a European Youth Ski-Orienteering Championships, which this year are taking place in Posio, Finland, far North of the arctic circle, March 20-23, 2025.

*The US Boys Youth Ski-Orienteering Team at the Relay Awards Ceremony*.

Erik Fey skied the first leg, getting the team off to a good start. Erik finished third on his leg, one minute and 18 seconds behind the leader and 10 seconds behind second place. Erik’s solid result motivated his relay teammates Liam Browne from Montana and younger brother Mark Fey, who both skied solidly to help the team to earn an impressive and record-breaking sixth place for the US. It is especially impressive that this was Liam’s first international ski-orienteering race. Results in ski-orienteering seem to be influenced by genetics as the US Youth Boys’ Team consists of two sets of brothers this year. Liam’s younger brother Euell skied the first leg of the relay for the second US team (which was incomplete) and was only slightly behind Mark and Liam–a very impressive result for his first international ski-orienteering race. The race was won by Finland followed by Sweden and Czech Republic.

*The 2025 Boys Youth European Championships Relay Map*

The races took place in an area that included a large lake and much marshland as well as some steep, but rather short, hills (see the above map). The race finished with a tough steep 20 meter climb to the finish which was difficult for many athletes tired at the end of their races, but the US’s last leg skier Mark Fey looked strong as he sprinted up the hill to the finish. Liam and Euell come from a strong background in cross-country skiing and come from the Grizzly Orienteering Club in Montana, which has been producing an increasing number of strong orienteers and ski-orienteers in recent years. The Browne brothers also ski for the strong Glacier Nordic Ski Team.

When asked about his race Erik said, “I skied a solid race today and am pleased I stayed calm and in control which was our game plan.” US Ski-O Team Coach Carl Fey commented, “It is great to see that the US Ski-O Youth Team is becoming stronger and deeper than in past years. I am really impressed with how well the Browne brothers did today given that this was their first international race. They clearly have much talent, and I expect them to have a great future in ski-orienteering. It was also good to see that hard training by Erik is paying off allowing him to ski a very good first leg for the relay team.”

The US Youth Ski-Orienteering Team would like to thank their main sponsor Berman Orienteering Supply for their important support. The races continue tomorrow with a sprint race followed by a medium length race on Saturday and a long race on Sunday. You can follow the US Ski-O Team’s results at: Liveservices – Lapin Lumirastit & ESOC, JWSOC, EYSOC 2025. Enquires from the press or messages of good luck to the US Ski-O Team can be sent to: carlffey@nullgmail.com